Academy Of Canine Behavior

I take my dog to the Academy for daycare, and I’ve done two training classes as well as a private lesson. In one class, we had a very upset and stressed out dog, and I was sure he was going to bite someone or attack another dog. The instructor, Chaya, took him around and in about 15 minutes she had him calm and under control. I was amazed — this girl knows what she’s doing! If you’re struggling with your dog’s behavior, the trainers here will help; they do great work. The daycare staff is great too, I always come home with a tired dog!

I have brought my dogs here for training, which has been wonderful and useful! I have boarded my dogs here with complete confidence that they are well cared for! And now we have adopted our wonderful rescue dog from them! The amazing trainers brought a dog with a very troubled history to there facility, rehabilitated him, and found him a home! They are wonderful!

Our dog Gus has gone to basic obedience there and has been boarded multiple times. We are very happy with the service and how they interact with my dog. I am very picky about who cares for my dog and I feel comfortable when I drop him off here!

I took the puppy fundamentals class and it was very useful and reasonably priced. Nothing special. I wanted to follow up with some fun classes that they offered, per their website «barn hunt classes» and «nose work classes». The schedule isn’t listed online, but to call or email for the schedule. I emailed the manager, Rebecca, asking for the schedule as well as a class description and details. I called two days after the email and the receptionist mentioned that the manager has been very busy, but took my name and number down so she could call me back.
A week and a half later, and still no response. I called their main line and explained to Charlie (who answered the phone), that I understand that she may be busy, but if she could at least respond via email or call me back by today.
I was looking forward to going to AOCB for more training, but if it takes this long just to figure out what the schedule is, no thank you!

I am very impressed with the trainers at Academy of Canine Behavior. My sassy little rough collie met her match with their trainer, Chaya in both Beginning and Advanced Obedience class. She understands how a dog thinks and then proceeds to outsmart them every time. She not only understands the canine mind in general, but is very aware of the difference in breeds as far as learning, and training goes. She understood from the start, the difficulty in dealing with a very sassy, but very sensitive collie. She worked miracles with my pup, and taught me how to do the same. I have nothing but praise for their trainers.
I have never boarded my dog there, but I have heard very nice things not only about their boarding, but also their doggy day care.
Up until last week, also would have given AOCB an A+ as far as groomers. I’ve had my rough collie groomed there many times by 2 different groomers, who did an excellent job of both grooming and making it a pleasant experience for my dog. She always came away silky smooth, expertly groomed, mat free and happy. Since they had hired two excellent groomers in the past, I saw no reason to expect anything different from their new groomer. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case! My collie came back with her hind quarters completely sheered like a sheep, and the“ruffles” on her front legs were chopped unevenly, as was her ruff. I guess I should be thankful that she still had a couple of mats behind her ears, because those too could have ended up on «the cutting room floor». I was given a full refund, but only after I demanded it from the groomer. Unfortunately it will take 6 months or more for her coat to look decent again. I am also disappointed that after being a faithful customer for a number of years, there was no explanation or apology from the owners.
Bottom line: the training is excellent and I give it an A+, the grooming is horrible and I would give it a solid F.

LOVE this place — the staff, the training program, and doggy boarding are all top notch! Phil took the 2.5 week board and train program and he is so obedient now! His silly personality remains intact but he sure knows his commands now. This is the only place I trust to watch over him while we’re on vacation. Phil loves his roommates during boarding and even loves the add-​on training sessions we get him.

Straight from a post I just made on my Facebook page:
«Wow! Just took Milo (my dog) on a 4.5 mile walk and I’m simply blown away by how well-​behaved he is after coming back from „Summer Camp“. Loose leash, right by my side the entire time, even when we walked by other dogs, kids, and people. He’d sit patiently if somebody wanted to greet him, and he even held a down-​stay for 20+ minutes while I went into a shop to get coffee. He was always a good dog, but now he’s an AWESOME dog!
Anybody in the greater Seattle area who wants to „awesomize“ their dog should seriously look into the Academy of Canine Behavior… absolutely worth it.»
This is from two days after bringing him home from the five week board and train program. The progress he made is absolutely astounding. He didn’t have any behavior issues, just some bad manners. Now he’s the dog that people comment on for being so well-​behaved! In the two days since he’s been home, I’ve given out a half-​dozen referrals to total strangers who ask me what I did to get him so nicely-​trained.

This review is for the doggie daycare. I didn’t make an appointment for a tour because I wanted to see what a regular day looked like. I first walked into the daycare lobby and right away it smelled pretty horrid. I asked for a tour and they were very nice and gave me a quick tour of the place. We walked in and unfortunately, the play area and the kennel smelled even WORSE. It was soooo bad, to the point where I had to hold my breath and felt like my throat was closing in. They separate the big dogs from the small dogs. I checked out the small dogs play area, it was dirty and I noticed lots of pee on the floor. I asked the worker how often they get cleaned and the guy said he hasn’t gotten around to it yet. The dogs actually looked pretty sad :(He then gave me a tour of the kennel, and the dogs in there looked sad as well. There was a small whiteboard on one of the doors and it said «7:45 Lizzie ate poop». I was just so sad seeing the whole thing I had to leave right away. The nice thing is that they do have a big yard for the bigger dogs to run around. But since my dog is small, I think I will stick with the Petsmart daycare for now, until I can find a better place. My dog is like my baby, there’s no way I would ever leave her at AOCB daycare — dirty, smelly & sad. If you’re thinking of leaving your dog here, please make sure to drop by for a tour first and check it for yourself.

We love AOCB! we took our dog there when she was young for training. I did a lot of online reading about the different classes around the area. our puppy was going to be a good size dog and appeared to be very smart which can be hard: if she knows how to push your buttons — she will, if she know what she can get away with — she will. AOCB seemed the most serious about their training. We took our dog there for the basics Obedience and the Advanced (beyond Basics) classes and those were excellent! no magic button there, you have to be consistent and work every day with your dog to get results, BUT YOU DO GET RESULTS! it works! the trainers are very knowledgeable and you learn a lot about dog behavior.
The training has been extremely helpful. Our puppy is two now and she still gets very excited when she meets people and dogs but she listens well and learns fast. the class is pretty much to train you. ones you know what to do you can do a lot with your dog. i think the most useful things our dog learned was walking on a loose leash, and commands such as «come here» and «wait on your bed».
Our dog also goes to their DAYCARE! and has been for over a year and loves it. the staff is very nice and friendly. Our dog starts whining and getting excited blocks before we get to the daycare and ones she is there she runs off to play with all of the other dogs! she plays for hours (gets kennel breaks) and comes home happy and exhausted. their hours are great too. unlike most places, they stay open until 7pm.
Overall, AOCB ROCKS! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

I’ve been here a few times and each experience has been less and less pleasant. While I believe they are good at training dogs, the customer service and the way they treat the human clients is awful. The last trip I took there (two weeks ago) involved working with a trainer who essentially told m I was stupid (I’ve been a dog owner for 40 years) and then proceeded to talk down to me for an hour before I finally had enough and left. I will never go here again because of that. if you want a good experience for both you and your dog, go elsewhere.

I would recommend Academy of Canine Behavior to all my friends. I have a 6 month old Olde English Bulldog and I chose to sign him up for the 2 week board and train. My family and I were going out of town for a week and I was looking to board him and an extra week plus training seemed like a great option.
The first time I arrived at the academy I took my puppy with me to get an evaluation and to take a tour of the place. The place is huge! There are plenty of outdoor playing areas for all sorts of different activities. They have a kitchen area, a grooming area, and all sorts of different rooms.
The evaluation was basic and strait forward. They asked what problems I am having, if any and what my goals are for him to achieve. Went over the basics of what he was to learn when and if I chose to sign him up.
Leaving my new puppy that I am absolutely obsessed with for 2 weeks was the hardest thing I have had to do. It helped being out of town, but when we came home it was terrible. I was counting down the days until I could go pick him up. His primary trainer, Kailey was wonderful. She put up with me calling almost every day to check on him and gave me mini reports on his progress and well being. She also text me picture messages of him! That was the best.
I am very happy with the results as well as my decision to leave my dog for the 2 week board and train. I would highly recommend this place. I will be back to board my dog if and when I go out of town.

The Academy of Canine Behavior has been wonderful to us! 12 years ago, the owner and the world’s best breeder of Irish Water Spaniels, Colleen McDaniel, found us our first IWS. His name was Shadow. Shadow was trained at the ACOB and was a fantastic member of our family for 12 years. We are now with our second IWS, Storm, who was bred by Colleen. Storm has been trained by the staff at ACOB, most specifically by Tracy Ross and her daughter, Loren. Tracy and her assistant trainers have made sure that Storm is just an incredible dog to have in our house and family. Storm’s behavior is excellent! Storm also boards at the ACOB whenever we are out of town and as soon as we drive into the parking lot Storm is excited and happy to be back! We can go out of town confident that our dog is happy and well cared for. Becky Dickinson grooms Storm and wherever we go people compliment how beautiful he is and ask where we get him groomed. Without a doubt this is the best place to train, board and groom your dog. Just ask Storm! He gives it a 5 Paw rating!

My vet referred me to AOCB, and we made the full switch to them about 6 months ago. My initial visit was for their complimentary one-​hour behavior evaluation for our 110lb rescued Lab we had recently acquired. Based upon that excellent interaction, we decided to use them for boarding as well — and have been pleasantly surprised. Very much worth the extra drive. In addition, they train rescued animals so that they are more adoptable, and provide lifetime support after they are adopted — and we very much prefer to support a business that helps rescue animals and gives back to the community. They are a night and day difference from our previous boarding facility, and I feel much better about the quality of care — for the same price — our dogs receive.

We’ve followed up with a few free trainings (us/​dog/​trainer) and they keep taking our calls and training us/​dog with maximum professionalism. We’ve boarded on a few occasions, too, and he always comes home happy and well-​groomed. They even use him around the other dogs/​owners to show them what they should aspire to.
It’s sad to see those dogs with such low self-​esteem. If they could use their people words, I bet they would ask for the 5-​week program and a few boardings!

Agree 100% with the previous two posts. This is a fabulous place to board your dog, and a wonderful training facility. Definitely worth the trip.
Steer clear of their dog groomer, though. Our retriever had most of his leg & tail «feathering» whacked-​off, as well as the whiskers on the left side of his face.
We love having an «Academy» dog, but will avoid their «Army Barber» in the future.

I have a shy dog, and since he was my first, we both had a lot of learning to do. I stumbled onto AOCB, and went there for Basic Obedience, Beyond Basic, and three levels of Agility.
I feel that I need to break my review into a couple of pieces. Firstly, there was the two levels of obedience training. Three years and a lot of learning and research later, I would not take my dog to an obedience class that is still teaching the punishment/​correction method. Reward-​based training, be it clicker training or otherwise is really a better way to teach and communicate with your dog, in my opinion. Check out the book, Don’t Shoot the Dog, or Karen Pryor’s Click for Joy, and start your journey into dog training.
On the agility side of things, they had a fabulous trainer for our foundation, Kandice. She was wonderful, smart, and a great teacher. Her basics class was the foundation for everything, and were positive and reward-​based. The next two classes in agility with two different instructors were not as great, and I did not care for the teaching style of the last teacher at all. So much so that my friend and I dropped out agility altogether.
Depending on the methods that they are teaching now, I would recommend them with reservations.

We are huge fans of the Academy of Canine Behavior in Bothell. We took our black labrador retriever (6 months at the time) to the 7-​week Basic Training course. Over the course of the class, we learned how to better train our dog to follow commands and how to correct him when he disobeys. The class included several other dogs at different stages of obedience and with various behavioral problems, and ALL of the dogs showed great improvement. This is our first dog, so I do not have previous experience with other dog training programs, but we definitely found our instructor at the Academy to be incredibly helpful and knowledgeable about pet behavior/​training. It’s important to note that the bulk of the ‘work’ in teaching obedience happens at home. The instructors show you how to issue corrections, but you as the pet owner need to follow through at home. The classes are a bit pricey compared to others out there, but the investment is definitely worth it.

Way far out of the way, but I am willing to battle traffic up to Bothell (not just for a day, but for a lifetime) to make sure my dog is well treated when he boards.
He is always happy to be boarded there, gets a room mate, his normal food and lots of love.
I call daily to check on him and get a full report.
He’s not fixed (he’ll argue, he’s not broken) and he always seems to find a roommate!
Great obedience training there as well.
Discount on boarding if you are a frequent boarder, which he is.